Archive for Malaysian Makes

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A teaser site for the Perodua Nautica 4WD is now up, and it gives us a sneak preview of some features of the upcoming Perodua Nautica 4WD, although key exterior design features like how the front grille, front bumper and rear bumper will look like remains hidden. What we can confirm from the silhouette of the car is that it will be a short wheelbase version of the Daihatsu Terios/Toyota Rush.

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The interior shows a clean white on black meter panel design, manual air conditioning (I had hoped for automatic climate control because of its premium price positioning and Japan CBU import status), and an integrated CD player as opposed to the Toyota Rush’s 1-DIN or 2-DIN CD player, depending on trim level.

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The headlamps from the original car have been retained, and the Perodua Nautica 4WD gets the projector lense variant. Only the top spec Toyota Rush has projector headlamps, while the low and mid-range models use reflector headlamps.

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An interior with a dark-colour scheme is used, and here we see fabric seats. The short wheelbase version of this car is a 5-seater.

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Here we see a 5-spoke alloy wheel design.

There is a counter on the teaser site which counts down 9 days and 10 hours to the Nautica’s launch as of today, so the expected launch date should be on the second Friday of next month, which is the 9th of May 2008.

Related Posts:
Perodua Nautica 4WD: official name for new Perodua SUV
Covered up Perodua Nautica 4WD spotted being transported on trailers
New Perodua MPV coming in September 2009

Proton Holdings Berhad and Edaran Otomobil Nasional Berhad is said to be in talks for a merger between EON and Proton’s own Proton Edar distribution arm.

This would create a single Proton distributor, which would reduce competition for Proton car sales as there would not be any competition between Edar and EON anymore.

EON does not just sell Proton cars in Malaysia. It also owns 48% of Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia Sdn Bhd, and sells Mitsubishi cars as well. EON subsidiaries also sell Volkswagen and Audi cars.

Late last month, there was a proposed voluntary withdrawal of EON from the Bursa Malaysia main board. HICOM Holdings Berhad which held 79.05% of EON at that time made a general offer to acquire the approximately 52 million shares it did not own at RM2.10 each. Delisting is expected to be completed by Q3 2008.

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UPDATE: Perodua Nautica 4WD - Click the link for launch images and specifications of the Perodua Nautica 4WD!

Perodua has officially unveiled the name of the new Perodua SUV: the Perodua Nautica 4WD. Shown above is Theophilus Chin’s artist impression of the little SUV which is based on the short wheelbase Daihatsu Terios. The long wheelbase version is also on sale in our local market in the form of the Toyota Rush.

The new Perodua Nautica 4WD will be a CBU import from Japan with Perodua badging and styling, though since the car will be a low volume unit there should not be any major changes with the design other than a minor grille change, as it would not be cost effective to do any major restyling with so little units expected to be sold.

Bookings are open from May 10th 2008 onwards. Also released are some official minor specs on the car - a 1.5 liter DVVT engine (likely the 3SZ-VE in the Avanza and Rush) and a 4WD drivetrain, unlike the Toyota Rush’s 2WD drivetrain. It comes in automatic transmission only and has two colour variant - Medallion Grey or Majestic Black.

Perodua will definitely get some flack for bringing in a fully imported CBU unit instead of doing the normal “national car manufacturer” thing and making it here.

Related Posts:
Covered up Perodua Nautica 4WD spotted being transported on trailers
New Perodua MPV coming in September 2009

The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) will be introducing financial assistance schemes for Proton vendors to increase their quality and production levels, with an allocation of RM400 million from the government’s coffers under the Automotive Industry Development Fund.

“The ministry will work with Proton to ensure that this effort is successful and hopefully producers who have been appointed as vendors to Proton (when they get the assistance) will successfully see through their efforts. We will use the money to strengthen the selected Proton vendors and raise their standards to a much higher level. This is very important,” said MITI Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

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Proton has launched the Proton Persona in the Brunei market, priced at BND$20,771 (RM47.636.50) for the 1.6 liter medium line manual and BND$22,495 (RM51,590.35) for the 1.6 liter medium line automatic.

It is available in seven colours, namely iridescent white, metal gray, tranquillity black, solid red, light gold, blueberry tea and solid white. Proton has been in Brunei since 1999, distributed by Worldwide Motor Sdn Bhd.

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Proton has setup weekend drive-in service bays for the recent Proton Savvy wheel hub inspection recall exercise at four of it’s service outlets.

Opening times for these service bays are from 8am to 6pm on Saturdays and Sundays. These service bays have been set up specially for the recall and customers can bring their cars for inspection at these outlets even if they have not made a prior appointment.

• Proton Edar Centre of Service Excellent, Subang Jaya
• Proton Edar Plentong Service Centre, Johor Bharu
• Proton Edar Juru Service Centre, Seberang Prai
• Proton Edar Kuantan Service Centre, Pahang

Inspection will take approximately 20 minutes, but will possibly take longer if replacement of parts are required.

Proton has also taken up an ad in major newspapers regarding the recall with a list of all service centres - a high resolution scan of the ad is available after the jump, completely with addresses of the 4 service centers above.

Click here to read the rest of Proton sets up weekend bays for Savvy recall

There are currently long waiting lists for the Proton Saga, but there might be a way you could get delivery of your car in 2 weeks via a new lucky draw scheme by Proton. No, you don’t get a free Saga, but what you might win in the lucky draw is a chance to skip the long queue that currently takes months and get your Proton Saga delivered in approximately 2 weeks.

The lucky draw will be held weekly and will be carried out in the presence of an internal auditor. Every week, ten lucky customers will be picked, and will be able to get their cars delivered within 2 weeks of the draw. Winners must meet all the buying criteria - the settlement of the full down payment and receipt of the Letter of Undertaking (LOU) from the finance company.

BTW, any Proton Saga owners here? How is your ownership experience so far?

Related Posts:
Proton Saga - 23,000 bookings, 5 month wait!

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A reader who wishes only to be identified as “The Stik” has sent in these photos of what is obviously the new Perodua SUV to be launched sometime in May 2008, replacing the Perodua Kembara. This trailer carrying a few covered up cars was spotted on Sunday on the Federal Highway. The new Perodua will have a 1.5 liter engine and 4WD.

The new SUV will likely get a new name even though it replaces the Kembara in its product range, and will also be the vehicle that launches Perodua’s new branding, as mentioned by Perodua MD Syed Hafiz in an interview with The Edge earlier.

From these photos, we can confirm that the new Kembara replacement Perodua SUV will be based on the Toyota Rush/Daihatsu Terios. No other detail is revealed other than the alloy wheel design which looks like a 5-spoke design as opposed to the Toyota Rush’s 6-spoke design.

Unlike all of Perodua’s current vehicles which are locally assembled, the new Perodua SUV will be fully imported from Japan and will positioned higher than its Indonesian-import Toyota Rush sibling in terms of pricing.

View a few more snaps after the jump.

Related Posts:
New Perodua MPV coming in September 2009

Click here to read the rest of New Kembara Replacement Perodua SUV spotted!

Proton is recalling a total of 34,000 Proton Savvys due to potential water entry into the rear wheel-bearing which could lead to a malfunction of the affected components. Proton say this recall is purely a precautionary measure for the safety of its customers.

“The safety and satisfaction of our customers is a primary concern. As a precautionary measure, we are recalling all Savvy’s for inspection and repair. We do apologise to all the Savvy owners for any inconvenience,” said Proton managing director Dato Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir.

Customers should immediately contact the nearest Proton Edar or EON service branch for an appointment to have their cars inspected, or call Proton i-Care at 1300880888.

UPDATE: The new Toyota MPV that the Perodua MPV will be based on has been unveiled! Click the linked text to find out how the new MPV looks like as well as its dimensions and specifications.

An interview with Perodua managing director Datuk Hafiz Syed Abu Bakar in The Edge Weekly has revealed some plans about Perodua this year. For one, Perodua will be undergoing a rebranding sometime in the middle of the year, which will coincide with the launch of the new Perodua Kembara. The rebranding exercise will also give Perodua a new logo, which will be more of a restyled evolution of the current one rather than something new.

The new Perodua Kembara will come with a 1.5 liter engine (likely the 3SZ-VE) and will have four-wheel drive. It will not be assembled locally by Perodua but will be a CBU import from Japan. It will be a low volume product, and the expected price tag is likely to be more than the Toyota Rush because of its higher specs (the 4WD drivetrain) and Japan sourcing. It will be targetted at the urban, upper-middle income group. Expect the new Perodua Kembara to be based on the short wheel base Daihatsu Terios with a May 2008 launch date.

Another surprise revealed in the article is Perodua’s plans for 2009. Perodua will launch a new three row 6-seater MPV in September 2009. Datuk Hafiz likened it to a Toyota Wish, but a smaller version. I wonder what could this be based on. Can’t really think of any compact 6-seaters from Daihatsu/Toyota other than the Daihatsu Gran Max, but that’s more of a Rusa-like van.

If you read this article by Xinhua News Agency posted on the 5th of March 2008. it is revealed that Toyota and Daihatsu is developing a new MPV in Indonesia. The MPV is set to be launched in 2009. This model is could be the one that the new 2009 Perodua MPV will be based on.

Anyway whatever it is, it’s something to look forward to next year. 2009 seems to be the year of the MPVs.